Stephanie Mollet, was twelve years old when her sister Danielle ‘Danni’ Houchins was found dead—face-down in a shallow pool of water near the Gallatin River at the Cameron Bridge fishing access, south of her home in Belgrade.
An autopsy determined the cause of death was drowning, and bruising indicated she had been sexually assaulted, but the sheriff's office at the time declined to call it a murder.
“I was a child in 1996. It shouldn't have taken my diligence and resolve to solve this case.” Mollet said. “After nearly 28 years without justice, without answers, we celebrate today. I celebrate that my fight for my sister is over. We have honored Danni’s memory with justice."
After years of advocacy and urging law enforcement to take a new look at the case, Danni’s family sits in the front row of a press conference Thursday, as Gallatin County Sheriff Dan Springer shares the news: The case is finally solved.
“Ultimately the technology that was used to solve this case did not exist 10 years ago , 20 years ago, 28 years ago, not even a few years ago.” Springer said.
Springer explains four hair follicles collected from Danni’s clothing and preserved as evidence were recently tested again using new forensic technology and the DNA was tested against a national commercial database with more than 18 million profiles.
That led law enforcement to a new lead–Paul Hutchinson, a 55-year-old fisheries biologist living in Dillon, Montana.
Investigators interviewed Hutchinson on July 23.
“As they discussed Danni’s case, he exhibited signs of nervousness and other erratic behaviors. Less than 12 hours later, Hutchinson committed suicide.” Springer said.
Springer said Hutchinson was a graduate student at MSU Bozeman at the time of the murder and all indications show that he was a stranger to Danni and it was a crime of opportunity.
Sheriff Springer said with the use of DNA testing, this cold case could go on to solve others.
“If there is something else out there hopefully what we have done here is able to go to those places and solve some of their crimes," Springer said.
